At its core, assessment is a vehicle to improve student learning and program quality. The Office of Institutional Research directs Smith College's institution-level assessment initiatives and supports institutional assessment at the departmental level, specifically providing evaluation and developing assessment infrastructure for initiatives and programs.

The office works with administrators and faculty to identify assessment needs, develop data collection strategies, and report assessment results that will support curricular and institutional improvement while fulfilling foundation reporting requirements.

At Smith, assessment is not solely an administrative duty, but is faculty-driven in order to improve student learning. In order to conduct purposeful assessment that matters, our office has in place a philosophy around assessment. Assessment at Smith: